Transparent PEM fuel cells for direct visualisation experiment

This paper reviews some of the previous research works on direct visualisation inside PEM fuel cells via a transparent single cell for the water behaviour investigation. Several papers which have employed the method have been selected and summarised and a comparison between the design of the cell, materials, methods and visual results are presented. The important aspects, advantages of the method and a summary on the previous work are discussed. Some initial work on transparent PEM fuel cell design using a single serpentine flowfield pattern is described. The results show that the direct visualisation via transparent PEM fuel cells could be one potential technique for investigating the water behavior inside the channels and a very promising way forward to provide useful data for validation in PEM fuel cell modelling and simulation.